The Architecture of Late Socialism: Ghosts of the Past or Endangered Heritage?

March 18, 2019

The Cultural Heritage Studies Program of the Central European University cordially invites you to an event series on

The Architecture of Late Socialism: Ghosts of the Past or Endangered Heritage?

on 22-23 March 2019.

Post-Socialist countries inherited many characteristic and architecturally innovative buildings from the Soviet period. These monumental structures still stand today as ghosts from the past. Public buildings – for example, administrative, cultural or sport centers – are the manifestation of international styles in twentieth-century architecture such as Modernism or Brutalism and were often designed by prominent architects. It is a challenge to equip them with a modern function, even if there is an intention for their adaptive re-use, and many of them were built with materials and technologies problematic for the environment. They occupy valuable urban space and dominate the cityscape. They also symbolize a controversial period in the past of all these states, represent contested memories and appear in manipulative and populist narratives. This event series is aimed to open a dialogue about the architectural legacy of the Socialist period, its significance in the context of cultural heritage, political and social history, urbanism, as well as its environmental and financial sustainability.

Program:

22 March, Friday
13:00 Roundtable discussion. Venue: 15 Nádor Street, Quantum Room
15:00 Coffee break
15:30 Public lecture - Graham Bell (architect, President of the Hungarian Renaissance Foundation, Director of the North of England Civic Trust): Ideology or Iconography: Formative Architecture as a Socialist/Modernist Legacy. Venue: 15 Nádor Street, Quantum Room
17:00 The Architecture of Late Socialism: Ghosts of the Past or Endangered Heritage? Exhibition opening and concluding remarks. Venue: 13 Nádor Street, Atrium

23 March, Saturday

10:00–13:00 Guided tour: Architecture from the Socialist Period in the Center of Budapest.
Guides: András Török, Pál Ritoók, and József Laszlovszky
Meeting point: 15 Nádor Street, lobby

For more information, click here

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